Power-driven clothes-cleaning brush



Dec. 11, 1951 R. o. HOOBAN POWER-DRIVEN CLOTHES-CLEANING BRUSH 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed July 26, 1948 v INVENTOR. fobart 1 /005071 Q z/Ma Dec. 11, 1951 R. o. HOOBAN Filed July 26, 1948 POWER-DRIVEN CLOTHES-CLEANING BRUSH 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 g g 2M7? INVEIVTOR.

Fozri Q fjoobcm/ BY I Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UN [TED POWER-DRIVEN C BRU LOTHES -CLEANIN G Robert 0.H'ooban, Coeur dAlene, Idaho Application July 26, 1948, Serial No. 40,692

2 Claims. (Cl. -344)" My invention relates to improvements in a power driven clothes cleaning brush.

I am aware that heretofore a variety of motor; operated brushes havev been made'for cleaning clothes and, gathering lint, etc". However, it" is the purpose of my invention to provide a novel combination of a brush having parts to create a fan action, when it is rotated with a housing and dust b'ag'therefor, and a handle with drive means therein. for holding and manipulating the brush.

The novel features of my invention will ap pear more fully from the following descriptionand the accompanying; drawings illustrating a preferred form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a clothes brush embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal section through the brush housing and" handle, the brush being shown in elevation;

Figure 3 is a sectional view Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a; sectional view on line 3-3' look:- ing in the opposite directionv to Figure 3;

Figure 5- is a fragmentary plan view" illustrating the housing with the dust bag removed; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring now to the drawings, my improved clothes brush comprises a brush unit lo, a housing II, a dust bag l2 and a handle l3 which houses a motor I4, the parts being combined and constructed in a novel manner, to be presently described, whereby a simple, inexpensive, power-driven clothes brush is provided. As will be pointed out in detail, the several parts are separably connected to each other in a novel fashion to facilitate removal, cleaning and replacement of the various parts.

The housing ll preferably is made of sheet material, metal or plastic composition. The housing I l is substantially cylindrical in shape. It has an opening l5 along one side face with a protruding lip I6 at one side edge of the opening l5. Opposite the opening I5 the housing has a dust bag receiving outlet ll. The brush l0 rotates in the direction indicated by. the arrow in Figure 6, and, the housing II has the portion I 8 of its wall in advance of the outlet I! raised from the cylindrical outline of the housing and extending approximately tangentially from the cylindrical surface of the housing to the outlet opening I! so the air and dust on the line 3-301 can move out of the path of the brush in approaching the outlet. This facilitates the flow of air and dust to the bag [2.

One end ['9 of the housing II has a bearing block. 2:) threaded therein, which block has a seat 2| for rotatably; mounting one end of the brush H3. The other end 22 of the housing It has an opening 23 for receiving a brush driving element and has a series of key-hole apertures 24 arranged about the opening 23 to mount the housing It on the handle l3 A slot 25 is also provided in the end 22 to receive a locking device to lock the housing H to. the handle l3.

The housing fl also has flanges 26' and 21 at the side edges of the opening I! to slidably receive the dust bag l2. The: opening H increases in width from the end l9 toward the endv 22 of the housing It to wedge the bag in place and to cause the air flowing into the bag" to flow away from the operator; as will be presently' described;

The" brush unit It comprises a cylindrical body- 28', which maybe of light metal", wood or plastic com-position. One end of the body Ill has a stub shaft 29 that rotatably mounts the brush inthe seat 2t of the bearing block 20. The other end of the body 28 has a squared socket (not shown) to receive the squared end 30 of the drive shaft 3| of the motor l4. The body 28 has helical grooves 32 and 33 extending full length thereof. The grooves 32 and 33 are undercut, as shown in Figure 6, to receive resilient bases 34 and 35 of rubber or the like that carry bristles 36 and 37. The bases 34 and 35 wedge in the grooves 32 and 33 and. may be removed when the bristles become worn. The body 28 also has undercut grooves 38 and 39 which receive fan blades 40 and 4| of rubber or other suitable material. The blades 40 and M have resilient bases 42 and 43 that wedge in the grooves 38 and 39 to removably mount the blades 43 and 4|.

The bag I2 has a base portion 44 which is grooved to receive the flanges 26 and 21. The end of the bagtoward the handle 13 has a nonporous stifi" plate 45 attached thereto for blocking the flow of air toward the operator. The bag l2 may be made of any suitable filter material. The shape and size of the bag may be varied to suit the conditions of use.

The handle l3 has its front and provided with a series of round-headed studs 46, arranged to fit into the key-hole apertures 24 and, by a slight rotation, to hold the handle and housing together. A latch plate 4! is slidably mounted on the handle 13 to slide into the aperture 25 when the studs are in looking position as shown in Figure 3. This prevents the housing II from turning on the handle l3.

The motor 14 preferably is of the type having a built-in reducing gear to turn the shaft 3| at the desired speed. A switch 48 for the motor is provided on the handle 13. A flexible cord 49 is provided for supplying current to the motor under control of the switch 48.

In operation the brush unit is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 6. The fan blades 40 and 4| are spirally arranged so that they tend to move the air, lint, dirt etc. toward the handle end of the housing ll while the brushes are carrying the dirt upwardly to the outlet IT. The tapered outlet l1 provides the maximum outlet space at the handle end of the housing. The air flow from the housing will be greatest at the handle end of. the outlet opening and, the air pressure will likewise be greatest at the handle end of the housing. This will direct the air, when it passes through the outlet, toward the smaller end of the outlet I! because of the greater pressure and volume of air at the handle end of the housing. The plate 45 prevents flow of air through the end of the bag 12 toward the operator. The other end of the bag i2 is porous so the air can pass through it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a substantially cylindrical housing having an inlet opening along the side and an outlet opening diametrically opposite the inlet opening, said housing having a portion thereof adjoining one side of the outlet opening raised from the cylindrical outline of the housing, a combined brush and fan unit in said housing having alternate bristles and fan blades thereon, a bearing block in one end of the housing, a shaft on said unit seated in the bearing block, a handle removably fixed to the other end of the housing, having a motor therein with its shaft extending into and drivingly connected to said unit, and a dust bag on said housing having an inlet opening removably mounted on the outlet opening, the bristles and fan blades being helically arranged on the brush unit to direct air toward the handle end of the housing and the dust bag having a non-porous plate at the handle end to prevent air flow toward the handle from the bag.

2. A device of the character described comprising a substantially cylindrical housing having an inlet opening along the side and an outlet opening diametrically opposite the inlet opening, said housing having a portion thereof adjoining one side of the outlet opening raised from the cylindrical outline of the housing, a combined brush and fan unit in said housing having alternate bristles and fan blades thereon,

a bearing block in one end of the housing, a shaft on said unit seated in the bearing block, a handle removably fixed to the other end of the housing, having a motor therein with its shaft extending into and drivingly connected to said unit, and a dust bag on said housing having an inlet opening removably mounted on the outlet opening, the outlet opening increasing in width toward the handle end of the housing and the blades and bristles being helically arranged on the brush unit to direct the air toward the handle end of the housing.

ROBERT O. HOOBAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 112,837 Norris Mar. 21, 1871 479,616 Bennett July 26, 1892 1,594,685 Osius Aug. 3, 1926 1,643,823 Sever 1- Sept. 27, 1927 1,7l2,375 Bass Jan. 7, 1930 1,801,620 Bettman Apr. 21, 1931 1,805,174 Gudka May 12, 1931 2,052,129 Campbell Aug. 25, 1936 2,134,396 Campbell Oct. 25, 1938 2,205,599 Mitchell June 25, 1940 

